It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

“Christmas is around the corner”, bet you’ve heard a lot of that recently. So, what is your business doing about it? If your business does not have anything planned for your clients over this festive season then it’s not too late, you may still have a chance.

All you need is a flux capacitor, a DeLorean, and some form of guide that contains time tried and tested collateral which gives you an advantage over your competition and helps you win… more
business.

There are so many things that you can give to loyal customers to further strengthen your relationship with them. From Christmas cards to Christmas hampers and tickets to super awesome holiday events or holidays, the possibilities are endless. So how do you decide?

If you are a service provider think of how you can incorporate Christmas into your services. For example, if you are a cleaning company, you could do a special post-Christmas oven cleaning offer for those of us who “made” a roast. Or, you could offer a pre-Christmas home clean because nobody wants the rest of their family to see how they really live!

If you are a retailer you could offer free gift wrapping. Or you could give your store a Christmas feel by theming the uniforms, décor, and greeting to something more Christmassy. The one thing you should not do, is play ambient Christmas music. Research shows it really bothers a large number of people resulting in them cutting down on their shopping times. That means fewer sales for you.

The most important thing to remember about a gift or reward you give to your loyal customers is that it should have value for them. It should be something they will use regularly. This ensures that your marketing spend goes further because your brand is always in the mind of your customer. For example, a branded box of delicious chocolates may last approximately 1.67 minutes in my home and at the end of that the empty box is binned. But an annual diary or writing pad is going to last much longer and every time I see it, it’s going to remind me of the business.

You could, for example, provide clients with a branded calendar with important dates for their industry pre-marked into it. You could mark the calendar with days when your business is going to be open while others are going to be shut. Or days on which you are open for longer or shorter. The possibilities are endless, just as long as you understand what your customer really wants and how you can use Christmas and New Year to get into their minds and hearts.

Of course, if you find yourself confused and frustrated by decision making then there is nothing better than a gift card. Give your customer a gift card because research shows that 61 percent of gift card holders spend more than the amount of the card!